One of the Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand is the most powerful wand in the Wizarding World. We know that Dumbledore comes to poses the wand in 1945 after defeating Grindelwald, his former friend turned adversary. We also know that Lord Voldemort’s desperate desire to possess the wand leads to his ultimate and final demise. However, Reddit user A_Proud_Invention, points out a strange inconsistency when it comes to the battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

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They suggest, “In 1945 and Grindelwald was the true master of the elder wand before the fight. We know this because Dumbledore won the wand when he beat him. Now Dumbledore and Grindelwald were relatively equally matched, maybe Dumbledore was a shade more skillful (as he says himself in book 7). So if this wand is supposed to be unbeatable and yet two well-matched wizards did battle over it then how did Dumbledore win?”

Seriously, how did Dumbledore win against a worthy adversary?! After all of these years living with J.K. Rowling‘s Wizarding World, this question is rather puzzling. A_Proud_ Invention goes on to say, “Logically it would have been impossible for him unless he was a lot more powerful than him. I do not think that he was a lot more powerful than Grindelwald. Grindelwald had been friends with Dumbledore when they were 17 and surely Grindelwald would never have been friends with him or dared to duel him if he knew that he was so much more powerful. Odd?”

While A_Proud_ Invention was unable to puzzle things on out their own, another Reddit user, Velawesome had a super amazing response saying, “the legend of the elder wand being “unbeatable” gets overblown over time. It is certainly more powerful than a normal wand, but it doesn’t make the user some unstoppable god in combat. I’ve also always liked to imagine that Grindelwald gets the upper hand during the fight, but can’t bring himself to finish off dumbledore. He’s personal feelings for Albus present an opening that dumbledore then takes advantage of to end the battle and save the world.”

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So there you have it, even one of the most diabolical Dark Wizards of all time still had love in his heart. It’s a love that would cost him his life, but leave us with Dumbledore. Tell us what you think about this Elder Wand fan theory in the comments below.